10 Billion Years
by andyjay18
Summary: All she wanted was to bring water to the desert.


Lala-ru did not know how old she was. She had stopped counting her years long, long ago. All she knew was her name and how to generate water from her Soul Gem. And that conjuring this water drained her strength severely.

She did not remember the name of her country or even town, despite many people asking. Why was that important? Nations existed only as human concepts rather than physical realities. If mountains should be worn down to dust and reborn again in quaking and upheaval, if the continents could swallow up the oceans and vice versa, what significance did invisible lines drawn on paper hold? She did remember that her original home village had been in a hot, dry region, much like all of Earth had become. She would always remember that, since it had been during one particularly harsh dry season that the white cat had appeared before her. It had asked if she had a dearest wish.

In that year alone, several residents of her village had succumbed to dehydration, and although Lala-ru could not even remember her own family, she still remembered how her throat burned that day, and that villagers were only allowed three cups of water a day by that point. So of course her wish had been for water.

At first she had had no reason for regrets, but rather for joy. She could still feel the push of cool air on her face from out of the well all these years (centuries? Millennia? Eons?) later as its water level suddenly, miraculously rose. She also felt soothed as, for whatever reason, she soon heard a light feminine voice in both her ears…

"_Always remember, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember her, you are not alone."_

Lala-ru understood when the white creature told her that this was a contracted exchange, and that she would have to do its bidding in return for her wish. But having to fight "Wraiths" born from human curses, though quite an extreme request, did not seem like such a difficult duty in her part of the world. Strength and intimidation were key traits in her part of the world, and such laws as existed were written by those who had the most weaponry and manipulative skills. Most likely the reason that her parents simply didn't exist to her anymore was because they had likely been the victims of the vicious pettiness and violence that infected the region like an incipient illness when she had been but an infant. In short, might made right, life was cheap, and people would often do absolutely _anything_ for access to scarce resources.

She would spend much of her next many years mulling over why she hadn't considered that last fact.

Another of the few images from the first year or so that would always haunt her through her remaining days was that of the chieftain of a village further down their valley holding a gun to the head of her village chieftain's son demanding unhindered access to their miraculous well. Just then one of her village's militiamen rode in, holding a knife to the throat of a girl from the rival village. Suddenly perhaps every firearm in the village was pointed at the rival chieftain, while every gun of the rival militia was aimed towards them.

Like many wars beforehand and many wars since, no one would remember who exactly fired the first shot, least of all Lala-ru. All that seemed to matter was the chieftain's son's head bursting like overripe fruit, and the girl's last croak and shudder like a slaughtered animal. Lala-ru would not linger to see the outcome of the first fight over her water.

The first village where she fled was also desperately thirsty, and did not even have the luxury of a well. Their only source of water was a creek which rose and fell with the seasons, but had never entirely dried up; at least not before this punishing series of droughts. Lala-ru had had few reasons to smile throughout her existence, but some pulse of warmth would still well up inside her after all those years when she remembered the smiles and tears of this village's residents as the miraculous water coursed from her Soul Gem into the stream and swelled its level.

And of course it wasn't long before villagers further back in line for water began complaining that the people in front of them were taking too long. At first they merely shoved. Then punches were thrown. And then knives and guns were drawn.

A more prominent town further down the valley had traditionally collected tribute from this particular village "since time immemorial". Upon learning of its new watery bounty, the headman demanded first access to the water as well. The headman of this village not only refused, but hinted that, perhaps to be granted _any_ access to this water at all, the other village should start giving tribute.

The militias of the two settlements were clashing by the afternoon of the third day of water. Just before fleeing this village, Lala-ru witnessed another man braining an old man with a rock, because of him supposedly taking too long to fill his jug. Another stone, fired from a sling, grazed her ear as she ran again into the wilderness.

She had to fulfill "her end of the contract" that evening by fighting a "Wraith", as per the white creature's orders. The designation "Wraith" did not quite do this…entity justice, as it seemed to continually change form between something like a huge marble statue of a bald man and a bank of fog with hands reaching out, grasping at her. Although she was eventually able to subdue it and collect the necessary "Curse Cube", afterward all Lala-ru was able to do was collapse crying. All she had wanted to do was bring succor to a thirsty land. Surely there must be at least one person out there who would simply appreciate her action.

The catlike creature shortly appeared to collect the used "Curse Cube" as it told her it would, after Lala-ru used it to clean her Soul Gem. She asked why her water only seemed to bring out the people's normal greed and violence toward each other, rather than thankfulness and gratitude. Shouldn't they have been grateful to have received such a necessary gift?

All the cat-thing could answer was that Lala-ru's wish had simply been for water, not for generosity. And perhaps she should have considered the long-term ramifications of bringing a miraculous water supply to lands that would do absolutely _anything_ for their own…and theirs alone.

After hearing these disquieting words, time seemed to blend together and lose its meaning. The sun continued to rise and set, but it didn't register in Lala-ru's mind as she wandered further and further afield, searching for someone who would repay her water with appreciation instead of violence.

Rumors spread and begat legends and even cults, of an empty-eyed girl with long, pale blue hair forever wandering the earth who could summon unlimited supplies of water with a magical pendant around her neck. Some said she was a goddess, some said she was _God_, some said she was an angel spreading reminders of God's providence…and a few claimed she was a demon spreading the temptations of Hell, or merely some sort of witch. The rumors reached to the various chieftains, kings, generals and warlords who took great interest in her storied powers, and only gained further currency when she escaped from their clutches with high-pressure blasts of water from her Gem.

As time continually whisked onward like the grains of sand around her, in some part of Lala-ru's mind she felt it somewhat strange that she never seemed to feel hungry or even thirsty, only fatigued on those occasions when she couldn't find another Wraith and Curse Cube. On her wanders through space and time and sand she occasionally, at some level of her mind, registered the strange flat stretches of land marked here and there by large, rusting watercraft. Also…she had spent all her life in the desert and knew little of the rumored lands beyond, but was _all _the world desert? At some point earlier in her travels she thought she had heard murmurs of lands dominated by green plants, where water was actually abundant. Where were they?

And had the sun always been as hot as it was now? Only certain key moments of the past still lingered in Lala-ru's mind, but it seemed the sunlight had not been quite so bright when the cat-thing had appeared to her as it did now.

_Someone is fighting for you…you are never alone._ Those words still rang inside her head after all this time, but what exactly did they mean? She had occasionally crossed paths with other "magical girls", once in a very great while teaming up to slay a Wraith, mostly fighting over the resulting Curse Cube. The few times she thought to ask them if they had ever heard those words before, they replied that they had, when they had first contracted, but had no idea how they applied to themselves. Most of them were orphans, and it seemed like the rest had been banished from their families or even communities after, for whatever reason, crushing misfortune followed their wishes in quick succession. For most it was mere superstition over these cruel twists of fate that had led to their pariah statuses…for others it was the fact that these Soul Gems actually contained their souls, and their bodies no longer aged naturally. But when removed from the Gem for too long for whatever reason (as at least girl had learned firsthand), they would go unconscious and their bodies would actually start decaying. Though their hearts still beat and blood still flowed through their veins, they were technically undead. (Perhaps on some primitive mental level, normal people managed to detect this.)

This last fact was news to Lala-ru. She had already witnessed so much blood, violence and misery so far…but she still had to spend some time alone after learning this. Breathing shallowly and allowing some tears to leak out, she walked some paces away up a small hillock and sat down. The sun was setting. Lala-ru liked watching the sun set. There would be at least a brief respite from the increasingly harsh rays and the ongoing evaporation of dwindling water supplies, and subhumans like Lala-ru and her accursed comrades could hide from the people's accusing, suspicious eyes.

Someone was fighting for her…who? She had given up her humanity to bring water to her people, and all she had seen in response was either people cursing her as a witch, a demon; or trying to capture her and keep her miraculous water supply for themselves, with much greed and strife following in both cases. As far as she could tell, she was the only fighting for herself. And no other magical girl could identify this mysterious protector either. There was one tall girl with long, dark hair festooned with tattered pink ribbons and an equally drawn, tired, melancholy face she encountered at one point; when Lala-ru asked her if she could identify this mysterious protector of theirs, her face briefly pinched and she replied in a slightly cracking tone, "I'd rather not talk about it right now." But she would never hear anything closer than that.

Lala-ru often found herself cursing this unseen benefactor. Likely she had been some sort of agent of those baleful cat-things that had tempted and cursed her and countless other unfortunate girls. Perhaps her purpose was to lull them into a false sense of security when making their contracts. Was there any more room for good dreams and untainted hopes in this bloody, desiccated earth that yielded only salt and alkali? Meanwhile, time continued to blow around her in the hot, gritty wind. She could curse the cat-things and the taunt of her phantom "protector" all she wanted, but in the end, she would still be a magical walking corpse wanted only for her Soul Gem's water. Curses could ease her grief no more than wishes.

And on some deep, dark level, despite all the horrors she had seen, Lala-ru still believed not only that someone was indeed looking out for her, but that somewhere out there, over the barren horizon, was some good person who would respond to her water with gratitude. Perhaps there still was some hope left in her misplaced soul, or perhaps it was just because she was so, so tired, and wanted to finally lie down and rest. Maybe it was both.

0 – 0 – 0

Another warlord was after her again, eager to seize control of her Soul Gem. This time, however, it was the legendarily ruthless King Hamdo, commander of the battleship _Hellywood_. No villages in his chosen path had been known to survive in his fiery wake. Of course, it was all just a matter of staying ahead of him. Lala-ru had escaped from other powerful strongmen before. So far, it had been at least a day since she had seen _Hellywood_'s grim silhouette.

The swollen sun was sinking towards the horizon once again when Lala-ru felt the pulse of heat in her Soul Gem. A Wraith was near. Almost by animalistic reflex, she shifted into her magical girl uniform. The Wraith began to manifest in a motion similar to a forming whirlwind, although one of pale white light. Lala-ru steeled her fingers around her Soul Gem, ready to send another sharp blast of water its way…

…when a sudden screech ripped through the air above her, passing through the forming tornado of light in front of her. It briefly wavered, danced and split like a flame struck by a sudden blast of air. From somewhere behind it, Lala-ru could see a burst of brown earth and rocks, and heard the sudden explosion.

Lala-ru turned around, even though she already had a rather good notion that it was _Hellywood_. That turned out to be a good decision, as she could then see the red glare of another missile streaking towards her.

She was surprised her eardrums didn't burst as the blast knocked her facedown into the ground. For a normal person that might have been fatal…for a normal person. Hamdo just _had_ to have found her again in such a location, hadn't he? They were on a stretch of flat, empty plains without any gullies or bushes she could hide in, rocks she could hide behind, or even sand she could perhaps dig into. And on top of all that, there was still the Wraith…

Another high, keening screech began building up around her, followed by pelting grains of dirt. But this noise didn't have the mechanical cadence of the missile and its rockets. It was a purely organic rush of air howling over her, reaching into her ears and throughout her entire body. It sounded like a force that could strip away a mountain, grain by grain, in a matter of seconds. It sounded like the beginning and end of the world. It…almost sounded like a voice.

"_All the good men of this world are dead, _Puella._ It would be best if you joined them now._

Lala-ru's Soul Gem throbbed like a rotten tooth. She tried to climb up off the ground, but her limbs were still sore and wobbly from the explosion and her fall, and something seemed to be pinning her down. Indeed, what more could she do? She had no idea why she was still fighting anymore, or where she was going. There would be no shame in just lying down for a rest. Given how her attempts to give succor to the people had always seemed to turn out, it might actually be for the best.

The brightness of the Wraith's barrier started to manifest above her again…when suddenly that familiar screeching roar scythed through the supernatural din, followed shortly by a crack of thunder and an orange burst of flame as a blinding whiteness absorbed the world. Lala-ru clenched her eyes shut…

"_Where is she, Lady Abelia? She _can't_ have completely disappeared. WHY DID YOU FIRE MISSILES AT HER?"_

"_Because you ordered it, Your Majesty. Now please, be calm. There must be _some _way we can locate her again…"_

…and before she reopened them she could tell things were different. The ground she felt against her face and palms was still hard, but it was firm and mostly smooth, unlike the coarse, crumbly dirt she had just been lying on. And the air against her skin felt cooler. Both cooler and somewhat more soothing to the touch.

So was this what the afterlife was like? The air felt rather more comfortable than anything she was expecting. Her eyes opened slowly at first, but then popped all the way when she noticed her new surroundings.

Instead of a study in browns and tans, this new world was a pallet of green on the other side of a ground of gray. Her head still swam with shock, but she managed to pull herself up into a sitting position.

She was sitting on a small pathway made up of a smooth rock surface. On one side were actual green plants, rather than the gray-green brambly shrubs that dominated her native desert. She had only seen similar plants in the offices or "sanctuaries" of the various potentates who had imprisoned her over the years, including Hamdo. But here, they actually seemed to be growing in the wild. And no wonder; on the other side of this gray stone path, opposite the plants, was another strip of what looked like black rock. And on the other side of that was water. A free-flowing, natural river of water. Across the river was a flat stretch of farm fields, much larger than the small subsistence plots she knew, with hills on the horizon. But directly in front of her, silhouetted against a lowering sun, was a huge, metallic structure with two tall tubes rising above the ground.

And speaking of the sun, was it just her, or did the sun seem smaller?

Lala-ru glanced down at her chest to see her Soul Gem still dangling around her neck. Magical girls could supposedly survive anything so long as their Soul Gems remained intact. And she could hear her blood rushing in her ears and feel the cool air on her skin. Yes, this world, wherever it was, was a real, physical mortal realm.

Before she could decide on her next move, she heard a low, growling roar from behind her, approaching. Without any thought, she snapped to her feet and dashed behind one of the bushes beside this road. A wheeled machine drove past without stopping. It looked vaguely like some of the troop carriers used by _Hellywood_ and other battleship commanders, but much smaller. The driver of this particular vehicle evidently didn't mean Lala-ru any harm, but were there still wars and warlords in this new world? Would she still need to remain on guard? The eerie structure ahead of her looked almost, but not quite like _Hellywood_ or other battleships, but she hadn't heard any of their characteristic thrumming engine noise.

Approaching the structure, Lala-ru saw that far from being a mobile battleship, this structure was some sort of complex of buildings. But no one seemed to be living in them. Their construction was mostly of metal and this strange firm yet smooth stone. In her far and wide travels, she thought she had seen the ruins of somewhat similar buildings here and there, especially like these large tubes. Glancing at one of the tubes, she saw a metal ladders extending up its side. Perhaps from the top of this tower, she could get a better handle on her new surroundings. But also, the sun was setting. There would probably be a very fine view from the top of the tower.

The sun in this new world was indeed smaller; she was quite certain of that now. And the air was cooler than it usually was at any time other than night. The thoughts of what she would do next and whether her and her accursed water would be accepted in this world were just starting to rise in the back of her mind, but for the moment, all Lala-ru felt she needed to do, all she _could _do, was take a rest and admire the sunset.

Just as the figure on the road below the tower seemed to be admiring her. How long had he been there? He was a boy with short, frizzy black hair, a blue jacket over a white shirt, and a face that even from this distance looked curious and energetic at the same time. He seemed to be about her age…or at least the age that she appeared.

Suddenly he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey there! What's your name?"

-O-0-O-0-O-

Early evening sunlight danced in the new lakes around the fallen, smoking mass of _Hellywood_. Lala-ru could only breathe in shallow gasps, and her vision was beginning to fade. But she could tell that the boy who actually _appreciated_ the fruits of her wish wanted one last moment with her. Strength was ebbing from her limbs as the two climbed the ladder to the battleship's former conning tower, though when her hands slipped a few times, she let Shuu grab it to help her up. At the top, they sat down. Shuu wrapped an arm around her trunk, and the exhausted girl leaned her head into the crook of his right shoulder.

It was a beautiful sunset; yellow deepening into orange, into vermillion, into crimson, and framed by a sky of pale blue fading into violet. The serenity was such that it somehow seemed appropriate that the figure of another young girl of about Shuu's age, wearing a flowing white gown and with flowing pink hair festooned with white ribbons, should appear before her.

"_You did well, Lala-ru-san," _she said in a light, high voice that seemed to be more inside her head than her ears. _"And now it is time for you to come with me."_

Lala-ru gave a slight smile. Her protector had kept her promise after all, and would finally allow her a blissful rest. But she still had a promise of her own to make.

"Shuuzo-san?" she whispered as the angelic figure reached for her Soul Gem.

"Yes?"

"Can we watch another sunset sometime?"

"Yes."

And she knew she would, someday, somehow. Since there were, in fact, still some people in this world who appreciated her simple wish, as long as Shuuzo, Sara and the orphans of Zari Bars believed in her, they would never be alone.

_WARNING: This author's note contains some spoilers to the _Madoka Rebellion _movie._

_I left Lala-ru's exact ethnic origins unsaid, mainly because I thought if it were specified, some people would be offended. Plus, she was probably born at least thousands of years from now, so she probably wouldn't be a member of any actual ethnic group in this story._

_Yes, I do know what happens in the _Rebellion _movie. I'm not going to start any debate on whether or not it's any good, but it just makes me wonder what the last scene of the TV show meant exactly, with Homura fighting Wraiths in a barren landscape. _Madoka _obviously raised questions about multiverses, so I like to think of this story as a possible future of Godoka's universe, if left uninterrupted. Maybe that scene (and Homura's cameo here) could be her eventual punishment at the hands of Godoka, heh._

_And if any of you fan artists feel like drawing Lala-ru's possible Puella outfit, go for it. Just say where you got the idea, heh._


End file.
